THERE’S NO question that President Obama will face opposition to his push for new nuclear arms treaties (“Obama may face fight on treaties,’’ Page A1, Oct. 25). But he can win those battles.
There is a growing global consensus that in an age of mass-casualty terrorism, the existence of large numbers of nuclear weapons endangers our security. The goal of eliminating nuclear weapons has been embraced by scores of former heads of state, defense ministers, and foreign ministers worldwide, including prominent US figures such as former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz; former defense secretary William Perry, and former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sam Nunn.
We urgently need new measures to cut nuclear arsenals and ban all nuclear weapons testing. The treaties Obama is promoting toward that end would make all of us more secure. Given adequate discussion, two-thirds of the US Senate can certainly be persuaded of that fact.
William D. Hartung
New York
The writer is the director of the arms and security initiative at the New America Foundation. 
